Bouyant safe.



No. 717,633. Y PATBNTEDAN. 6, 1903.'

F. HONECK & R. H. HPKINS.

BUYANT SAFE.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 17', 1902. v

No- 717,683. PATENTED JAN.' 6, 1903. P. E10-NECK @L R. H. HOPKINS.' BUOYANT SAFE. APPLICATION FILED APB. 1'1, 1902.

11o MODEL. 2 sHEBTs-sHEBT 2.

s UNITED STATES lPnfrsnrr OFFICE.

`FRANK HONEOK AND ROBERT H. HOPKINS, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

BUOYANT SAFE.

SPECIFICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,683. dated January 6, 1903. Application iiled April I7, 1902. Serial No. 103,315. (No model.)

To a/Zz whom, it may con/cern:

Be it known that we, FRANK HONEC-K and ROBERT H. HOPKINS, citizens of the United States, residing atSeattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buoyant Safes; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in buoyant safes of that class which are designed for the purpose of carrying valuable matter, either mail or ships papers, money, and other valuables of the passengers, or other articles, and so constructed that in case of sinking of the vessel or wreckage thereof the safe will float to the surface.

The present invention has for its object primarily to provide an improved safe of this character which normally shall be supported be neath the deck-as,for instance,in the pursers cabin-or in any other desirable location, the upper end thereof being covered by a movable hatch connected to the safe by connections which are readily separable therefrom as the safe moves upward, so that in case of sinking of the vessel the buoyancy. of the safe will automatically raise the hatch and disconnect itself from the same, so that as the vessel sinks or goes down the safe will be left floating upon the surface of the water.

Novel means are provided for detachably connecting the safe and hatch, and the safe itself is provided with water-tight closures which are flush with the outer wall of the safe, so as not tol in any wiseY interfere with the ready movementof the safe through the hatchway. These closures may be sealed in any suitable manner, so as to enable one to tell readily whether or not the same has been tamperedfwith. l l

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear, and the novel features thereof will be speciiically pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention isclearly illustrated in the laccompanying drawings, which, with the numerals of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a view, partly in elevation and partly in vertical section, showing the safe in position beneath the hatchway. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the safe with its upper portion extended through the hatchway, a portion of the safe being broken away. Fig. 3 is asubstantially central vertical sectionv through the safe. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail showing the upper portion of the safe in elevation and the hatch in section, the latter being shown as having just been engaged by the upper end of the safe in its upward movement.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views.

l designatesV the safe, which may be of any desired capacity,shape, and material, preferably, however, of substantially the shape shown. air-chamber 2, which is of sufficient dimensions to displace a volume of water of slightlygreater weight than that of the contents of the safe, the size of the buoyant chamber, of course, depending upon the size and capacity of the safe.

The lower portion of the safe is or may be divided into any desired number of compartiments, in this instance being shown as two in number, the said chambers 3, and 4 being separated by a diaphragm or partitionr 5, retained in position in any suitable manner and preferably made water-tight at its union with the walls of the safe, as is also the upper diaphragm or partition 6, which divides the buoyant chamber 2 from the next chamber or compartment 3.

Access is had to the `interior of the compartmentsv 3 and 4: through suitable openings which are closed by suitable closures 7, which may be of any preferred form, in this i11- stance being shown as circular and being provided with an internal screw-threaded flange S, designed to engage the threads of an internal flange 9, projecting inward from the outer wall of the safe, and betweenV the flange l0 of the closure and the coincident shoulder formed by the said ange 9 is a rubber gasket or analogous device 1l. When the clo- The upper portion constitutes an'.

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sures are screwed in, their outer faces will be flush with the outer wall of the safe, as seen most clearly in Fig. 3, and a perfectly watertight joint is formed. After the safe has been iilled or after the desired amount of mail-matter or other articles has been placed in the chambers or compartments 3 and 4 thereof, the closures are sealed by a seal, as indicated at 12 in Figs. 1 and 2, for a purpose which will be apparent.

The closures may be provided with any suitable means whereby they may be screwed into position or removed when desired, in this instance being shown as provided with the portion 13, bridging a depression 14 in the closure and adapted to receive a suitable instrument, asis common in devices of this character.

The upper end of the safe is tapered or rounded, as shown, so as to facilitate its movement through the hatchway without danger of being obstructed in its movement, and upon the extreme upper end is a lug 15, having a centrally-disposed opening 16 at its upper end, adapted to receive a cord or rope 17, and other openings 18 and 19, as seen clearly in Figs. 3 and 4, for a purpose which will soon appear. This lug may be affixed to the safe in any suitable manner, in the present instance being shown as having a depending screw-threaded shank 20, which engages a screw-threaded opening in the upper end or apex of the safe, a curved Washer or plate 21 being provided, as shown, to engage the upper end of the safe.

In practice the safe after receivingits mailmatter or valuables or ships papers or whatever it may be desired to place therein is sealed, the safe being placed in the pursers cabin or in any other desired position below the deck 22 and in alinement with the hatchway 23. The hatch 24 is made in sections, and the outer edges thereof are detachably held in the opposite walls of the hatchway in any suitable manner. In the present instance they are shown as provided with pins 25, which engage openings 26 in the adjacent Walls of the hatchway, as seen clearly in Fig. 4, the adjacent edges of the hatchway and hatch being halved out or rabbeted, as seen at 27, and the adjacent edges of the two sections of the hatch being likewise rabbeted, as seen at 28. These pins form pivots upon which the hatchsections are mounted for movement until they are entirely disengaged from their openings in the adjacent walls of the hatchway, when these pins move out of the said openings to allow the hatch-sections to be entirely disengaged. These pins and their engaging openings thus constitute a detachable connection.

Depending from the under side from one section of the hatch near its meeting edge with the other section are the two hangers or brackets 29, in which are loosely pivoted, as at 30, the levers 31, the short arms of which 'rit/'gees are provided with the angular portions 32, which when the hatch is in position with the safe below it are engaged with the under side of the portions 33 of the adjacent edges of the hatchway, and the longer arms of these levers are provided with the portions 34, which enter the openings 18 and 19 from opposite sides, as seen clearly in Figs. 1 and 2.

In practice when the safe is in position beneath the hatch the parts assume the position in which they are seen in Fig. 1. The portions 34 of the levers 31 are passed through the openings 18 and 19 in opposite directions, and the ends of the angular portions 32 are engaged with the under sides of the portions 33 of the hatchway, as shown, and the parts remain in this condition under normal conditions. Should the vessel sink, the water upon rising to the level ofthe middle of the safe will act therearound and a further rise of the water will cause the safe to be buoyed up thereby, and as it rises the hatch is lifted from its connection with the hatchway, and further sinking of the vessel and rising of the safe will cause the latter to entirely lift the hatch from its fastenings, and the one portion will be entirely disconnected from the hatchway and the safe, while the other section will be lifted by the safe, as indicated in Fig. 2. It will thus be seen that in case of sinking of the vessel the safe and its contents will not go down with the vessel, but will have floated to the surface of the water, and thus its contents saved. When the floating safe is discovered by a passing ship, a rope, as 17, can be affixed to the lug 15 by passing through the opening 16 thereof, as shown in Fig. 3, and the safe hauled aboard.

From the above it will be seen that we have devised a simple, cheap, and novel form of safe and its manner of connection with the hatch, and while the structural embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed is what we at the present time consider preferable it is evident that the same is subject to changes, variations, and modications, and We therefore do not wish to limit ourselves to thedetails of construction herein disclosed, but re-` serve the right to make such changes, variations, and modifications as come properly Within the scope of the protection prayed.

What we claim as new is- 1. A buoy, a hatch-covering therefor and means automatically operating for disengaging the hatch from the hatchway upon the iiotation of the buoy.

2. A buoyant safe, a movable hatch and means normally securing the same together and to the hatchway and automatically disengaged by the ilotation of the buoyant safe.

3. Ahatch-covering, a buoyant safe having means for the attachment of a rope, means for detachable connection of the safe with the hatch and means automatically operating for disengaging the hatch from the hatchway upon the flotation of the safe.

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5L. Abuoyantsafe having tapered upper end and a lug at its apex having a plurality of openings, a movable hatch normally connected with said lug and 'means independent of said safe normally holding the hatch in position and automatically operating upon the dotation of the safe to disengage the hatch from the hatchway.

5. The combination with a buoyant safe, yof a movable separable hatch normally connected with said safe and means automatically operatingfor disengaging the hatch from the hatchway upon the flotation of the safe and leaving one of the hatch-sections free for disengagement from the safe, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a buoyant safe, of a movable hatch, and means carried by the hatch for detachable engagement with the safe and with the under side ofthe deck.

7. The combination with a buoyant safe, of a movable separable hatch and means carried on the under side of the hatch for detachably engaging the upper end of the safe and for holding the separable sections of the hatch in position.

8. ThecombinationWithabuoyantsaie hav ing tapered upper end and a lug With openings, of a movable hatch, and levers pivoted to the under side of the hatch engaging the under side of the deck andthe openings in the lug as set forth.

9. The combination with a buoyant safe provided at its upper end with a lug having openin gs, of a movable hatch and levers pivotally mounted on the under side of the hatch, and having one end detachably engaged in the openings in said lug, and the other end engaging the under side of the frame of the hatchway.

lO. The combination with a buoyant safe, having a lug with openings at its upper end, of a separable hatch mounted on separable connections and levers pivotally mounted on the under side of one section of the hatch with one end of the levers detachably engaged in openings in thelu g andthe other ends having inclined portions detachably engaged with the under side of the frame of the hatchway.

In testimony whereof we aiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK HONEGK. ROBERT H. HOPKINS. Witnesses to signature of Frank Honeck:

A. K. VETTEN, HIRAM B. GARRETT.

Witnesses to signature 0E Robert H. Hopkine:

HUGH M. STERLING, E. H. BOND. 

